Rockies and Ottavino agree on deal

The Colorado Rockies and Adam Ottavino agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.3 million, avoiding arbitration in the process, the team announced Monday.

The 29-year-old Ottavino, in his third year with the Rockies, emerged last season as the team’s primary set-up man and best reliever. Ottavino has gone 7-8 with a 3.60 earned run average in 244 and 2/3 innings with the Rockies.

With the decline of Rex Brothers, the right-handed Ottavino was the rock out of the bullpen for Colorado in 2014. His slider remains one of the best in the big leagues, as his strikeout rate of 9.7 per-nine innings last year attests. And while his ERA rose almost a full run from 2012-13, his base stats remained mostly steady – he cut out a few walks but gave up a few more hits.

It’s also worth keeping in mind how the Rockies got Ottavino in the first place – he was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals back in 2012 after flaming out as a starter. He’s a great success story, an example of building a bullpen from the ground up, and on the cheap – a style the Rockies should try and emulate moving forward.

The deal means that the Rockies only have catcher Wilin Rosario left to hash out a deal with.